Skill Set

Load With Less Risk

By Tom Scheve and Neva Kittrell Scheve

If your trailer has a stepup entry, load and unload your horse on dry, flat ground where he has good footing. Avoid wet grass, concrete, blacktop, gravel, and loose sand or dirt, which can be slippery.

Your tow vehicle has been serviced. You’ve inspected your tow vehicle, hitch, and trailer using a thorough checklist. You’ve packed all your tack and equipment. You’ve haltered your horse in a breakaway halter and have applied any necessary safety gear. Finally, it’s time to load!

Before continuing, take a few moments now to relax, concentrate, and focus. You’re in a vulnerable position, because you’re working near or behind your horse’s hind legs while asking him to walk forward into a strange environment. To stay safe, have the right trailer, train your horse to load easily, follow basic safety rules, and pay attention.

Well before you leave, open your trailer’s windows and doors to ventilate your trailer, especially if it’s a hot day. Stand back and view your trailer’s rear entrance from your horse’s point of view. Is the trailer stall dark and scary or light and airy? Is there anything that might look threatening to your horse? Before you load, fix any problems your trailer might have in terms of sight, sound, smell, or feel from your horse’s point of view.

Keep in mind that horses react rather than respond. They have a flight response to threats, making them react instantly. With the right training on your horse, good focus, awareness, and the right trailer, you can raise your comfort level and free yourself from the stress that often comes with loading and unloading.

Here are some tips and suggestions on how to safely load with step-up and ramp styles of rear entrances.

PHOTO BY HEIDI MELOCCO

Step-Up Entry

The risk: With a step-up entry (fullheight rear doors without a ramp or Dutch doors), your horse could stumble and slide under the rear of your trailer. How to minimize the risk: If you have a straight-load trailer, quickly load your horse and secure the latch. Avoid standing behind your horse in case he decides to suddenly back off (and possibly slip). If you have a slant load-trailer, turn your horse around and lead him out frontward, or take him out a side-unload ramp, if available. Load and unload your horse on dry, flat ground where he has good footing. Avoid wet grass, concrete,

PHOTO BY CLIXPHOTO.COM PHOTO COURTESY OF EQUISPIRIT PHOTO COURTESY OF EQUISPIRIT

Left: Any ramp-style trailer will eliminate the possibility of your horse slipping under the rear of the trailer when backing out. However, if the ramp is steep, your horse can slip on it. The less steep the ramp, the safer it’ll be. Middle: If correctly designed, an entry with full-height doors and the ramp behind is an ideal rear configuration for minimizing loading and unloading accidents, especially on straight-load trailers. Right: An entry with full-height doors and the ramp behind allows you to safely put up the ramp after the doors are closed without worrying about getting kicked.

blacktop, gravel, and loose sand or dirt, which can be slippery.

Ramp-Style Entry

The risk: Any ramp-style trailer will eliminate the possibility of your horse slipping under the rear of the trailer when backing out. However, if the ramp is steep, your horse can slip on it. How to minimize the risk: The less steep the ramp, the safer it’ll be. Keep manure and urine off the ramp before loading or unloading your horse for better traction. If your horse defecates or urinates while on the ramp, sweep off the ramp before you raise it, while staying well clear of your horse’s back legs.

The ideal spring placement on a spring-assist ramp is along the lower rear portion, where the ramp attaches to the trailer. If your trailer has side springs, try to keep your horse away from them as you load.

After the butt bars are latched, tie your horse to the interior tie rings. Give him enough rope to adjust his head height naturally, but not enough to get entangled.

If you can, pick up the ramp while standing off to the side instead of directly behind it. This will keep you from getting kicked in the head or chest while stooped over. It’ll also keep you from getting trampled under the ramp if the horse suddenly bolts backward, or from getting knocked backward if the horse kicks the ramp before you latch it.

Full Doors with Ramp Behind

The risk: See “Ramp-Style Entry,” at left. How to minimize the risk. See “Ramp-Style Entry,” at left. Note that if correctly designed, an entry with full-height doors and the ramp behind is an ideal rear configuration for minimizing loading and unloading accidents, especially on straight-load trailers. Often, the doors can be latched open, creating two side panels that will keep your horse from walking off the ramp sides.

On a straight-load trailer, a swinging divider with no rear post is ideal. You can swing it to one side, creating a large, inviting opening. After you’ve led the first horse onto the trailer (the road-side stall on straight loads) and latched the butt bar, you can close and latch the door on that side.

After attaching the trailer tie, you can safely stand on the ramp behind the closed road-side door without getting kicked while preparing to attach the ditch-side butt bar when the other horse loads. When both horses are inside and the doors are closed, you can safely put up the ramp without worrying about getting kicked. The same configuration also works well on slant loads, except that you can’t shut one door until all horses are loaded.